Finding Noah
by Anime Girl23
Summary: When Beth went looking for her father, she found him lying under a willow tree. Finn/Puck friendship


As always, reviews are love. Even if it's something short. Really, guys. They make me smile and motivate me to write more.

**Warning: **Past character death

Disclaimer: Glee doesn't belong to me and that might be a good thing.

Finding Noah  
One-shot

In the end, neither one of them left Lima. Finn and Rachel agreed to do the long distance thing for a bit and Puck's dad had taken off with his savings for California. Sure, staying while the rest of their friends went off to here, there, and everywhere sucked, but they made a promise to each other. If they were both going to be sticking around, they didn't want to keep living at home after graduation. They needed the independence. Maybe being on their own and actually acting like adults meant that they weren't the Lima Losers people said they were.

Finn had always hated the term, but it got stuck on anyone that didn't get out. Still, though, it never made sense to him. If everyone in the town left, there wouldn't _be_ a town. Sticking around didn't mean you sucked.

The name still weighed down on Puck, but he signed the paper on his and Finn's lease, one focus in mind.

_"Being here won't be that bad. If Beth ever wants to meet me, I don't want to send her on a crazy search."_

Beth did want to meet him. The day she turned eighteen, she was in her car with a location, driving from New York to Lima. All she had was a bag, the address, and a photo of the two of them from the short time her mom had moved back to Lima.

'_I love you, Monkey Face_' was scrawled on the back in messy handwriting.

It wasn't hard to find Noah Puckerman. Even years later, Lima was still Lima. People talked and all it took was a few calls before she'd found him.

She found her father lying under a willow tree.

The date on the stone said he died when he was eighteen.

"Hi," she whispered as she knelt in front of the gray marble. Traced the engraving of his name with her fingers and laid a single white lily on the ground. "Dad… It's Beth."

Her breath hitched and she felt the prick behind her eyes. Tears. She was crying for a man she never knew. A man that she would never get to know.

"I'm eighteen now," she said. "Maybe you already know that, though. I… I'm going to be a teacher. I start college in the fall and…"

He had only been eighteen.

She was eighteen.

It was too young to die.

"I love you. I always… I've never hated you or my biological mom. You both did what you thought was best when you gave me up and… My mom told me about your senior year and… Teenagers make mistakes. We both know that. I just… I love you. I wish…"

She covered her mouth as a sob escaped her, blonde curls falling over her shoulder and covering her face like a curtain.

She jumped when she heard steps behind her and turned around.

"Beth?" the man asked and she nodded hesitantly. "Hi. Finn Hudson. I talked to you on the phone?"

"Right. Hi. I…"

Her eyes flickered back to the stone as he sat beside her, hunched over. He touched the marble and she heard him whisper a _hey, dude_.

His eyes looked sad when she looked over at him, lips turned downward and jaw clenched. He looked like he was feeling the loss all over again.

"How did it happen?" she couldn't help asking.

"Car accident," he told her. "A week after graduation. There was a drunk driver. The guy ran a red light and… He didn't suffer."

"You were with him." It wasn't a question. The twist in her gut and the haunted look in this man's eyes… There was no doubt about it.

He nodded. "I was fine. Few bumps and bruises, but… I stayed with him until the ambulance came."

"I'm sorry."

"I am too," he murmured. "He would have loved to see you again."

"I wish I could have met him."

Finn nodded, bottom lip between his teeth as he traced letters at the bottom of the stone.

_Son, friend, father.  
Fo__rever loved._

"Tell me about him?"

"He…" Finn coughed, sounding choked. "He loved music. His guitar, singing… That's where your name comes from, you know? The Kiss song. He sang it to Quinn when she was pregnant with you. There was this one time he…"

The End

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